Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 032
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 4(i' 1') (No translation possible) (ii' 1') He (Nabû-zēr-kitti-līšir) [fled] like a fox to the land Elam. [Because of the oath of] the great gods (which he had transgressed), the gods Aššur (and) Šamaš imposed a [grievous] punish[ment on him and] they killed him [with the sword] in the midst of the land Elam. Naʾid-Marduk, [his brother, saw the deeds that they had done to his brother in Elam].
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Records the flight and violent death of Nabû-zēr-kitti-līšir in Elam as divine punishment for oath-breaking — Esarhaddon's framing of a political rival's fate as gods Aššur and Šamaš enforcing sacred law.
Transliteration
[...] 4 ME x [x] x [(x)] ⸢šá⸣ KUR-i / [...] x x x x x / [...] x ⸢GAL-ia dUTU-ši⸣ / [...] (x) x x x x x / [...]-⸢šú⸣-nu x x RU x / [...] x a-mat-⸢su⸣ [x (x)] / [...] x-ri šá [x (x) x] / ⸢a-na KUR.ELAM⸣.[MA.KI] / ⸢še-la-biš in⸣-[na-bit] / ⸢áš⸣-[šú] ⸢ma-mit⸣ DINGIR.MEŠ ⸢GAL⸣.[MEŠ] / AN.ŠÁR dUTU ⸢an⸣-[nu kab-tu] / i-mì-du-[šú-ma] / qé-reb KUR.⸢ELAM⸣.[MA.KI] / i-na-ru-šú ⸢i⸣-[na GIŠ.TUKUL] / mI-⸢dmar⸣-duk ⸢ŠEŠ⸣-[šú] / [ep-šet] ⸢KUR⸣.[ELAM.MA.KI]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003261.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P425908). source
Translation excerpted from Leichty, E. 2011. The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680–669 BC). RINAP 4. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003261/.
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